Tiger Shark

The animal that will eat almost anything
A tiger shark is inquisitive, and it may approach submerged divers and circle slowly at close range. Do not be lulled into a sense of security by its slow swimming movement and apparent lack of aggression; this shark may nonchalantly take a bite while remaining cool and casual.
The tiger shark, like its jungle namesake, is dangerous; its toll of victims throughout the world is second only to that of the white shark. It is considered the most dangerous tropical shark, and has been blamed for the majority of attacks in Austrailia and Hawaii. The shark's large size, inquisitiveness and often aggressive nature, combined with large cutting teeth and indiscriminate feeding habits, dictates that a tiger shark should always be regarded as extremely dangerous and treated cautiously with a great deal of respect.

What do they look like?

Tiger sharks are about 10 to 14 feet long typically, although they can get as big as 20 feet. They have dark stripes on their back and along their side that resemble markings on a tiger. The stripes fade (with age) to gray or brownish in color. These sharks have a broad, blunt nose, a large wide mouth, and a husky body. They have a whitish underbelly and a long tapered back fin.

Teeth
The tiger shark has very distinct dentintion. The jaws house large teeth with curved cusps and finely serrated edges. Each tooth has a deep notch on the outer margin lined with numerous cusplets. Upper and lower teeth are similar in shape and size and decrease in measurement as they move back toward the mouth's corners.

What do they eat?

These sharks are masterful scavengers. They eat almost anything. They eat sharks (including other tiger sharks), sea turtles, rays, sea birds, dolphins, squid, crabs, clams, birds, mammals, reptiles, and fish. The tiger shark's highly serrated teeth combined with the saw-like action from shaking the head back and forth allows it to tear chunks from much larger marine animals. Interestingly, it is not uncommon to find objects of human origin in the animal's stomach. One large female caught in the Red Sea contained two empty cans, a plastic bottle, two burlap sacks, a squid, and an 8 inch fish. Garbage and refuse is often recovered from the stomachs of sharks caught in harbors and river inlets where it is commonly dumped into the water. Although far from a natural food item, human remains sometime end up in the guts of these scavenging sharks. Tiger sharks are solitary hunters that feed primarily at night as the shark moves further inshore and closer to the surface. Tiger sharks are someimtes seen in groups of several but this is probably a result of congregation of food items in the vicinity.

Where are they?

The tiger shark is found throughout the world's temperate and tropical waters, with the exception of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a wide-ranging species that is at home both in the open oceans as well as shallow coastal waters.


Human Attack Ranking: #2
According to the International Shark Attack Files, the tiger shark has attributed to 29 deaths out of 116 recorded attacks since 1580.